Dickey: "We need to make this work or it could all get blown up"

[G-Snarls]

"I think guys are singularly focused on trying to get the most out of what we have collectively here," knuckleballer R.A. Dickey told TSN.ca. "I think last year we were kind of handcuffed a little bit by a few different variables but this year guys are together and they know it's basically we need to make this work or it could all get blown up.

 

"We know that and we don't want that to happen so guys are focused."

 

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=445162

[theblujay]

I would hope they would be focused and together every year.

[G-Snarls]

Stakes are high that's for sure. Everybody knows it. Yet AA is inexplicably under shooting on many levels.

[Stangstag]

Well if they suck this year. Pretty safe to say AA loses his job and hopefully Beeston follows him out the door.

 

Why? Rogers is making money

[eastcoastjaysfan]

"I think guys are singularly focused on trying to get the most out of what we have collectively here," knuckleballer R.A. Dickey told TSN.ca. "I think last year we were kind of handcuffed a little bit by a few different variables but this year guys are together and they know it's basically we need to make this work or it could all get blown up.

 

"We know that and we don't want that to happen so guys are focused."

 

http://www.tsn.ca/mlb/story/?id=445162

 

Is Los Viste a thing this year? If anyone does any of those pseudo gang symbols they should be sent to AAA.

 

Gibbons needs to actually f***ing take control of his team. Hands off = not good with these immature clowns.

[glory]

Rogers only knows how to do two things: 1) spend money at the absolute worst time and 2) when it doesn't work after a year or so start dumping contracts. Dickey is smart to put two and two together publicly.

 

When Alex did nothing this off-season, the writing was on the wall. Rogers is bracing itself for another 75 win season to justify a firesale. If the team ends up winning instead, great, more money in their pocket, but don't expect ownership to help anymore.

[Dick_Pole]

Rogers only knows how to do two things: 1) spend money at the absolute worst time and 2) when it doesn't work after a year or so start dumping contracts. Dickey is smart to put two and two together publicly.

 

When Alex did nothing this off-season, the writing was on the wall. Rogers is bracing itself for another 75 win season to justify a firesale. If the team ends up winning instead, great, more money in their pocket, but don't expect ownership to help anymore.

 

Hockey out...perceived AL East weakness in December 2012. From a marketing standpoint Rogers picked an excellent time to go for it. And the buzz going into the season and ticket sales showed this was true. It was just executed ineffectively (questionable trades, poor roster management, not having contingencies for an injury prone line up) mixed in with some bad luck.

[glory]

Hockey out...perceived AL East weakness in December 2012. From a marketing standpoint Rogers picked an excellent time to go for it. And the buzz going into the season and ticket sales showed this was true. It was just executed ineffectively (questionable trades, poor roster management, not having contingencies for an injury prone line up) mixed in with some bad luck.

 

Sure from a marketing standpoint it was a huge success, but the timing was always pretty bad. Practically everyone except for Encarnacion was coming off either a down year or a partial year due to injury. Hutchison and Drabek were to miss all of 2013. Their best prospects were in Double-A and below, so no help was on the horizon for at least a year or two. I understand they wanted to try to win with Bautista and Edwin, but the roster was not talented enough to go for it yet. Maybe if Lawrie had panned out, or Hutchison was healthy/effective, etc, but too many question marks and not enough certainty.

[Cooler Heads Prevail]

Sure from a marketing standpoint it was a huge success, but the timing was always pretty bad. Practically everyone except for Encarnacion was coming off either a down year or a partial year due to injury. Hutchison and Drabek were to miss all of 2013. Their best prospects were in Double-A and below, so no help was on the horizon for at least a year or two. I understand they wanted to try to win with Bautista and Edwin, but the roster was not talented enough to go for it yet. Maybe if Lawrie had panned out, or Hutchison was healthy/effective, etc, but too many question marks and not enough certainty.

 

Hindsight analysis, they were on paper good enough to go for it. And from a business point of view, there are a lot of new fans that were deeply disappointed by the latter half of the 2012 season, when we basically tanked the rest of the year playing prospects. So they needed to make a splash or risk losing their new fan base. Previous poster was bang on, the idea was right but the execution and injury luck wasn't. In particular, after we did the Marlins trade, AA seemed to quickly dump several useful players that didn't fit his plan.

 

Sometimes risks have to be taken, playing it safe ( as JPR often did ) runs the risk of never winning either. Yankees, Angels, Dodgers, Rangers, Red Sox, Mariners ( re 2014 ) don't seem to mind taking big risks, and some of them do well and some don't.

[Dick_Pole]

Hindsight analysis, they were on paper good enough to go for it. And from a business point of view, there are a lot of new fans that were deeply disappointed by the latter half of the 2012 season, when we basically tanked the rest of the year playing prospects. So they needed to make a splash or risk losing their new fan base. Previous poster was bang on, the idea was right but the execution and injury luck wasn't. In particular, after we did the Marlins trade, AA seemed to quickly dump several useful players that didn't fit his plan.

 

Sometimes risks have to be taken, playing it safe ( as JPR often did ) runs the risk of never winning either. Yankees, Angels, Dodgers, Rangers, Red Sox, Mariners ( re 2014 ) don't seem to mind taking big risks, and some of them do well and some don't.

 

I think JPR took a fair amount of risks too...but he also took BAD ones like AA just in a different way. Any number of his drafting faux pas could be pointed out as some bad risks.

 

I take issue with you using the phrase "tanked the rest of the year playing prospects"..."tanked the rest of the year playing garbage" might have been more appropriate words lol...like Mike McCoy batting lead off in MLB games for instance.

[Cooler Heads Prevail]

Rogers only knows how to do two things: 1) spend money at the absolute worst time and 2) when it doesn't work after a year or so start dumping contracts. Dickey is smart to put two and two together publicly.

 

When Alex did nothing this off-season, the writing was on the wall. Rogers is bracing itself for another 75 win season to justify a firesale. If the team ends up winning instead, great, more money in their pocket, but don't expect ownership to help anymore.

 

Their current model seems quite successful in terms of running a profit. If the fan base doesn't shrink a lot, and I doubt it does in our big market, they have no worries. In fact, our long term commitments to players are absolutely dwarfed by almost every other big market team. The Star published a chart on this last year and it was rather obvious how cheap Rogers strategy is beyond 2015 season. The stadium is cheap now, TV revenues are a great synergy, overall baseball money even pumps a little money into the team.

 

Note that winning on the field may not matter. Basically, just don't outwardly suck. No need to dump contracts, as of 2016 they don't have any to dump.

[Cooler Heads Prevail]

I think JPR took a fair amount of risks too...but he also took BAD ones like AA just in a different way. Any number of his drafting faux pas could be pointed out as some bad risks.

 

I take issue with you using the phrase "tanked the rest of the year playing prospects"..."tanked the rest of the year playing garbage" might have been more appropriate words lol...like Mike McCoy batting lead off in MLB games for instance.

 

I remember watching the latter half of 2012 and they really made no effort to compete. 2013 I found to be somewhat refreshing in contrast because some of the new guys actually contributed at times.

[Anemic0ffense]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/mr-pheeney-shooting-nerf-gun.gif

 

^What goes on in the Jays clubhouse instead of studying film of opposing pitchers... NERF!

[jaysfaithful8]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/mr-pheeney-shooting-nerf-gun.gif

 

^What goes on in the Jays clubhouse instead of studying film of opposing pitchers... NERF!

 

... or nothing.

[TheHurl]

Why? Rogers is making money

 

AA is s***-scared to spend. Who's going to take the bad PR? It's going to be 2012 all over again where it's "Rogers this...."

 

The money they make won't help...especially when they were probably making as much or more when they had a $80M payroll

[The Cats Ass]

Is Los Viste a thing this year? If anyone does any of those pseudo gang symbols they should be sent to AAA.

 

Gibbons needs to actually f***ing take control of his team. Hands off = not good with these immature clowns.

 

I wanna see a combination of "Last years, hands off" Gibbons and "Punch Lilly in the face" Gibbons. Combine the 2 and I think you could have a good manager.

[Stangstag]

The money they make won't help...especially when they were probably making as much or more when they had a $80M payroll

 

This statement is completely false. Jays sold WAY more tickets last year than many years before

[TDotttt2005]

On the topic of Dickey...

 

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN 2h

 

Noah Syndergaard is going to be a monster on the mound http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/sports/baseball/noah-syndergaard-mets-prized-prospect-passes-big-test.html?ref=sports&_r=0

 

I wouldn't be surprised at all if Syndergaard has a better year than Dickey, this year. Its this trade, not the Marlins one, that has/will seal AA's fate.

[KingKat]

This statement is completely false. Jays sold WAY more tickets last year than many years before

 

Yes but that just means they had more revenue not necessarily more profit which was Hurl's point.

[The Cats Ass]

on the topic of dickey...

 

Buster olney ‏@buster_espn 2h

 

noah syndergaard is going to be a monster on the mound http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/sports/baseball/noah-syndergaard-mets-prized-prospect-passes-big-test.html?ref=sports&_r=0

 

i wouldn't be surprised at all if syndergaard has a better year than dickey, this year. Its this trade, not the marlins one, that has/will seal aa's fate.

 

ban*

[CHRIS]

Dickey seems to me to be a very valuable guy to have in the rotation, even if he's not the ace-type guy we were hoping for. I wonder how much better the team would have been had they given up Sanchez instead of Syndergaard, if that was an even an option in the deal. I don't recall if the Mets specifically targeted Syndergaard over Sanchez.

[KingKat]

I don't recall if the Mets specifically targeted Syndergaard over Sanchez.

 

They did and as far as we know, AA just went along (that's how it's told in Great Expectations). Whether the Mets would have agreed to Sanchez had AA come back with him is something we'll probably never know. We certainly all wish he had.

[glory]

Their current model seems quite successful in terms of running a profit. If the fan base doesn't shrink a lot, and I doubt it does in our big market, they have no worries. In fact, our long term commitments to players are absolutely dwarfed by almost every other big market team. The Star published a chart on this last year and it was rather obvious how cheap Rogers strategy is beyond 2015 season. The stadium is cheap now, TV revenues are a great synergy, overall baseball money even pumps a little money into the team.

 

Note that winning on the field may not matter. Basically, just don't outwardly suck. No need to dump contracts, as of 2016 they don't have any to dump.

 

Why didn't they increase payroll after 2010 when they won 85 games? Or after 2011 when they won 81 and with Darvish/Cespedes available?

 

Why did they wait until after 2012 when they won 73 games and had as many injury and performance question marks as they did?

[KingKat]

Why didn't they increase payroll after 2010 when they won 85 games? Or after 2011 when they won 81 and with Darvish/Cespedes available?

 

Why did they wait until after 2012 when they won 73 games and had as many injury and performance question marks as they did?

 

Because they wanted to steal the narrative back from John Farrell (I figure).

Edited March 4, 2014 by KingKat

[mitchf]

Because they want to steal the narrative back from John Farrell (I figure).

Or because Alex is a sucker for the big names.

[KingKat]

Or because Alex is a sucker for the big names.

 

A little from column A...

[TDotttt2005]

ban*

 

Sorry, Ban why?

[The Cats Ass]

Sorry, Ban why?

 

Because you posted that article about how Noah was going to be a monster on the mound. AND IT JUST HURT SO MUCH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't actually report you... It was a joke..

[G-Snarls]

Because you posted that article about how Noah was going to be a monster on the mound. AND IT JUST HURT SO MUCH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't actually report you... It was a joke..

 

Liar Liar quote:

 

Jim Carrey: "Your honor, I object!"

 

Judge: "Why?"

 

Jim Carrey: "Because it's devastating to my case!!!"

[TDotttt2005]

Because you posted that article about how Noah was going to be a monster on the mound. AND IT JUST HURT SO MUCH!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't actually report you... It was a joke..

 

 

 

 

Ah ok...still semi-new, didn't know if there was a rule against posting twitter or other links. But yes, it does hurt seeing that, and thats taking D'Arnaud out of the equation, which he is still very much a part of.